Concetti Chiave
- Shakespeare, born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, is celebrated for both his 154 sonnets and 37 plays, becoming prominent in London's theatre scene post-1592.
- He utilized diverse sources for his plays, with only half published during his lifetime; the "First Folio" compiled posthumously by friends categorizes them into Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies.
- Dating Shakespeare's plays involves examining external references, contemporary events within plays, and stylistic elements like language and metrics.
- Shakespeare's work is categorized into five periods: apprenticeship, maturity, experiment, tragedy, and last plays, reflecting his evolving style.
- His plays explore themes of power, love, ambition, and generational conflicts, often structured in a standard five-act format with music and dance.
Shakespeare's early life and career
Shakespeare is the most famous writer in the world, but relatively little is known about his life. Shakespeare’s birth is traditionally celebrated on 23 April and he was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon. He was probably educated at the local grammar school. He married Anna Hathaway and London became the centre of Shakespeare’s professional life, but his family continued to live in Stratford. By 1592 he was a well-known playwright. When the plague closed London theatres Shakespeare started to write his famous sonnets. After the plague, Shakespeare became a leading member of the theatre company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, with whom he worked as actor, playwright and administrator. He later became a member of the syndicate which built the Globe Theatre. As a poet he wrote 154 sonnets and two long poems and as playwright he wrote 37 plays.
Shakespeare's sources and publications
Shakespeare used many different sources for his plays as Holinshed’s Chronicles, Plutarch’s Lives
And the works of the Italian writers. Only half of Shakespeare’s plays appeared in print in his lifetime, some in text transcribed by the actors known as a “Bad Quartos”, because of their textual inaccuracies. Seven years after Shakespeare’s death two former actors and Shakespeare’s friends decided to publish a collection of his plays in the so called “First Folio”. In this collection the plays were grouped as Comedies, Histories and Tragedies. For this reason, the dates and order of composition are generally difficult to establish.
Methods for dating Shakespeare's plays
Editors and critics used a method based on three types of evidence:
- external evidence: references to Shakespeare’s plays in other writers’ works;
- internal evidence: references to contemporary events quoted in the plays;
- stylistic evidence: Style, plot, characters, language and metrics presented in the plays.
Periods of Shakespeare's work
So, Shakespeare’s plays may be divided into 5 periods:
- apprenticeship: 1590-5
- maturity: 1595-9
- experiment: 1600-4
- tragedy: 1604-8
- last plays: 1608-13
Themes and structure of Shakespeare's plays
Themes of Shakespeare’s plays are power, love, ambition, the conflict between different generation, war, death and so on. These themes are embodied by his characters. The plot often included sings, music, and dances. All Shakespeare’s plays have come to us in a standard form divided into 5 acts.
Domande da interrogazione
- What are some key aspects of Shakespeare's early life and career?
- How were Shakespeare's plays published and categorized after his death?
- What themes and structural elements are common in Shakespeare's plays?
Shakespeare was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, likely educated at a local grammar school, and married Anna Hathaway. By 1592, he was a well-known playwright in London, where he became a leading member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and later helped build the Globe Theatre. He wrote 154 sonnets, two long poems, and 37 plays.
Only half of Shakespeare's plays were printed during his lifetime, often inaccurately in "Bad Quartos." Seven years after his death, two friends published the "First Folio," categorizing the plays into Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, making it difficult to establish their original dates and order.
Shakespeare's plays often explore themes like power, love, ambition, generational conflict, war, and death. They are structured into five acts and frequently include songs, music, and dances, with characters embodying these themes.
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